“Motivation comes from the brain, while inspiration comes from the heart. It might take a lifetime to make the connection.”
Our reason (or excuse) to visit Venice was La Biennale di Venezia. Our daughter Alona, who is an art dealer in Paris, was at the opening and strongly encouraged us to come. It is a biannual art exhibition, which has taken place in Venice since 1895. There are two enormous general pavilions, plus small ones for the different countries in two different locations, in addition to many other exhibitions throughout the town.
This year, the show exhibited works of over 150 artists from 37 countries and was dedicated to the subject of the inner and outer world of humans and exhibited works of many unknown, yet remarkably talented artists. Some were self-taught.
There were very interesting works of the famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung, who started painting to overcome depression. There were other artists, who discovered their talent after having physical illnesses or disabilities. We saw a video of artists, blind from birth, who created incredible images.
There were a few artists, who claimed that they started creating art after receiving instructions from the outer world. It is impossible to comprehend what inspired them for years, day after day, to work on their remarkable craft.
What inspired great musicians and other artists to bring their work for our enjoyment?
The word inspired means—“of extraordinary quality, as if arising from some external creative impulse”. (Webster Dictionary) The root of the word inspiration stems from Latin in + spirare—meaning “to breath in spirit”. What is a spirit? When we say a spiritual person, what do we mean? Aren’t we all made from flesh and spirit? In the Torah, the first sentence contains the word spirit:
“When the earth was astonishingly empty with darkness upon the surface of the deep, and the Divine Presence hovered upon the surface of the waters.”—Genesis 1/2
The way it is written in Hebrew Ruach Elohim—means God’s spirit (which translates to Divine Presence). We say that a gifted person has a divine spark, but there is another name of the spirit, which we call soul.
“And Hashem God formed the man of dust from the ground, and the blew into his nostrils the soul of life; and man becomes a living being.”—Genesis 2/7
There, God’s spirit appears in Hebrew as Neshama, which means breath. To confuse us even more, the next chapter called “Noah”, named after the person whom God saved from the flood, and from whose children the rest of the world was populated, describes God smelling a burnt-offering.
“Hashem smelled the pleasing aroma, and He said in His heart”—Genesis 8/21
The word Reah (smell) has the same rood word as Ruach—spirit. It is of course an allegory. When we read about God’s experience, it is for us humans to comprehend our reality. But it clearly indicates that the experience of pleasure and joy comes when we connect the activities that we experience in our heads and the feelings we have in our hearts. And inspiration follows. What inspires you?
My inspirations come when despite limitations; I find solutions for my mortgage-seeking clients.
P.S.
After La Biennale di Venezia, I was inspired to work diligently (as those artists who were inspired) to bring joy into your lives either through my writing, photography, and of course—by helping clients with their mortgages. Besides seeing beautiful buildings, I met a lot of beautiful people in Venice, some of whom I was able to photograph.
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